Nico's Quest at Hogwarts
by BloodyDemigod
Summary: Nico di Angelo is on a quest to Hogwarts, his goal: protect Harry Potter, destroy Horcruxes and kill Voldemort. But can he do it without the Golden trio finding out about Demigods? Set in 5th year. Rated T for language and kinda-violence.
1. Chapter 1

_**Percy Jackson & Harry Potter Crossover**_

**The son of Hades has just been through the second giant war, and you'd think that Nico would finally get a rest. WRONG! Nico Di Angelo is asked, once again, to go on a dangerous quest - however, this time he is ought to protect a certain Harry Potter. Oh, and did I mention that while protecting a wizard, the demigod is also meant to 'search& destroy' Horcruxes and kill the Dark Lord?  
**I don't know how to rate it because it's my 1st fanfiction, so just in case I'm going to say T ?

Okay, I know there's a few fanfics where Nico Di Angelo kicks ass in Hogwarts, and yes - this is one of them, because I think that people always make them really short, so I'm going to try make this one long. (well, I'll try anyway)

**please review**, so I know what I'm doing right or wrong :P **BE BRUTAL!****  
**

_**Disclaimer! : I don't own anything AT ALL!**_

**Chapter 1  
**

_**Nico POV**_

It was a nice sunny day at Camp Half-Blood; I was on my way to the arena to train a little when I heard someone shouting "Nico!" I turned around just to see my cousin, Percy, running towards me.

"Hey Percy," I said once he finally cought up with me, "What's up?"

"Chiron said he wants you." He said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't know, but he needs to talk to you immediately." With that, Percy ran off towards Annabeth. I decided to listen to the son of Poseidon and headed towards the big house.

Chiron was sitting casually in his magical wheelchair, which hid his centaur half, in his office. The walls were plastered with posters of 'Hits of the 80's' and pictures of kids of various ages. There was even one of Thalia, Percy, Annabeth and me. The picture was taken a few weeks after the second Titan war, we were standing in front of the lake, Annabeth and Percy in front holding hands, with me and Thalia on either sides. It was probably one of the very few pictures where I'm smiling, _and_ standing next to Thalia. Although I have to admit, even though she's a pain – Thalia is an awesome cousin.

"Nico," Chiron started, his eyes filled with worry. "I need you to go on a quest for me. Thousands of years ago Lady Hecate blessed four regular mortals with magic. That's what created Wizards - "

"Wait Wizards, as in Merlin and abracadabra?" I interrupted.

"Yes, Wizards. My dear friend, Albus Dumbledore, is a Wizard, and he asked me for help." Chiron continued, "You see, over 50 years ago, there was a wizard who wanted more power, and became evil. He was defeated once before, but has returned."

"Hang on, how could he return? No one can escape death." I said.

"Yes, you are right. Lord Voldemort, as they call him, has found out about horcruxes. A horcrux is an object, that can store a piece of your soul - therefore allowing you to stay alive even if you have been killed. He, however, has made _six _horcruxes. This has makes him invincible." I pondered about that for several minutes.

"So what exactly am I supposed to do?" I asked

"The wizards are preparing for a war against Voldemort, which compared to Kronos is nothing, however they are not strong enough to withstand him without our help. Your job Nico, is to go to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, " I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing. _Hogwarts? _I thought, _Why in the Hades would you name a school after a skin condition? _" and protect a boy named Harry Potter. The wizards will soon start to search for the horcruxes in order to destroy Voldemort, I need you to help them."

"Sounds simple enough." I mused.

"You are to stay incognito, no one can know you are a Demigod, except the headmaster of course. Do you understand?" The old Centaur asked. I simply nodded in return.

"But how will I pass off as a wizard?"

"Lady Hecate has blessed you with magic temporarily, for the time you spend at Hogwarts." I snickered at the name again, " Your new uniform is at your cabin, along with your train ticket. Now go to your cabin and pack, you must be on the train no later than 11 o'clock, at King's Cross station in London." I turned ready leave, but one question was bugging me.

"Chiron, who was Voldemort before he died the first time?" I realized that no typical mortal would be called 'Voldemort'

"Before he became the Dark Lord, he was known as Tom Marvolo Riddle. Why?"

"Nothing, it's not important." I replied and headed to my cabin. I knew who Tom Riddle was, I once overheard my father and his lieutenant, Thanatos, arguing about him not being able to bring the mortal to the underworld. From what I've heard, he would definitely go to the fields of punishment after the crimes he commited. . .

My luck was really rotten. The giant war finished about two weeks ago, and I was hoping that life would be a bit easier now. I mean, you'd think that surviving two wars by age of 15 would be enough adventure to last a life time but, as it turns out, the fates have chosen to lead me into a battlefield once again.

I had no idea what I would need at the school, so I packed for a typical quest. I had the usual bag of Ambrosia and a thermos of Nectar, as well as spare clothes and about 20 drachmas, just in case I had to make an Iris message. I noticed that there was something lying on the armchair in the far corner of the cabin. I walked over and read the note attached to it:

_**Nico, this is your new school uniform.  
**_

I picked up the cotton robe and sighed, _Well, at least it's black. . . _I thought. I quickly stuffed it in my back pack along with the rest of my things. I had an extra Stygian Iron blade in a secret pocket of the bag, but I doubted that I'd need it, my current sword was practically impossible to destroy. I decided to go to bed early, figuring that shadow travelling all the way to London will take up a heck lot of energy.

. . . . . . . . . .o **End of Chapter ! ** . . . . . . . . . .oO.o

Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, _PLEASE review!_ This is my very first fanfic, I need to know that I'm doing right or what I'm doing wrong!  
I really hope you liked it :)

PS: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!  
PPS: _**REMEMBER TO REVIEW!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer! : I do not own anything (unfortunately)  
**_ _**Please review!  
**_

**Chapter 2**

_**Hermione POV**_

I was double checking that I had all my books in my trunk before going to bed, when Harry barged into Ginny's room, which I was currently staying in.

"Sorry Hermione, I would've knocked but I haven't a free hand." He apologised, Harry had Hedwig's cage in one hand, and a pile of books under his arm.

"That's okay," I told him, "I'm almost finished anyway. What do you want?" I asked.

"Mrs Weasley ordered me to tell you and Ginny to go to bed. We need to get up extra early because we need to get to Diagon Alley to get more books - Errol just came in with a Hogwarts letter saying that every student will need a book for Defence against the Dark Arts." He left the room. It was quite a surprise; we never used _books_ for that specific lesson. Probably the Ministry of Magic sticking their noses in again. . .

. . . . . . .o Time Lapse . . . . . . .o

"Come on, hurry up!" Ron yelled, "we're going to be late!"

"Yes Ronald, as if we didn't already know that." I replied sarcastically. We only had seven minutes to get onto the 'Hogwarts Express' and we were still running rapidly through the crowds of people rushing about. Fred and George were way ahead of us, they were calmly walking through the barrier, when suddenly something appeared in front of me. **'CRASH!' **I toppled over my cart.

"Owww!" I groaned. I was lying on my back with the cart on top of me and my books spread all around me.

"Oh, sorry." said a boy, no older than 15, reaching out his hand to help me up.

"It's okay, " I sat up, my hand on my head - I must've banged it on the concrete. I quickly gathered my books, shoved them into the trunk, picked up my cart and ran off without a word. _5 minutes _I thought, _not bad. With luck I'll find the boys before the train starts._ I ran through the barrier, Harry and Ron where nowhere in sight. I suppose they were already on the train.

By the time I finally put my things away, the train started moving. Luckily I jumped on just in time. I walked along the narrow corridor, looking for my friends in the compartments I was passing by, when I came across the Slytherin prince. _No, why do I always run into him when I least want it!_

"Well, well, if it isn't our filthy little mudblood!" He smirked. His goons laughed at his 'joke'.

"Piss off Malfoy, I don't have time for this." I growled.

"Watch the attitude, Granger." He spat. We were now barely 5ft away from each other, his eyes were gleaming with pride.

"Or what?" I said, taking a bold step forward.

"May I remind you, _Granger_ that my father is on first-name basis with Cornelius Fuge himself. I could just about make sure that you never find your way back to the Wizarding world." His smirk grew larger.

"Don't threaten me, you twitchy little ferret. I have every right to be a witch, and you can't do anything about it." I said, clenching my fists.

"We'll see," his pale blond eyebrows did a little jump before he turned to his minions, "let's go." They pushed pass me, and I was sure that Goyle purposely stepped on my foot. I decided to ignore him. After about a dozen and a half compartments later I finally found Harry and Ron, they both had worried expressions on their faces. I opened the door and Harry's eyes instantly turned to me.

"Hermione!" He exclaimed, "Where have you been?"

" We've been worried sick about you." Said Ron, "Thought that you didn't make it to the train in time."

"As if I could possibly be late for something that important." I laughed as I sat opposite them. "I would've been here earlier, but I met Malfoy in the corridor."

"Malfoy? What did he want?" Ron questioned me.

"Nothing I guess, just being the usual git that he is." I replied. I couldn't stop thinking about the boy on King's cross, and how he just appeared out of the thin air. No muggle could do that, so he must've been a Wizard. I read about every possible way of travelling, and it looked like he apparated. But you'd need a license for that, and he was clearly underage - it shouldn't have been possible for him to do anything like that. Besides, who apparates in a large area full of muggles? How was it possible that no one saw him do it?

"Hermione!" Shouted Harry.

"What?" I asked.

"I _said_ do you want anything from the trolley?"

"Oh, um, no thanks." Harry went up to the trolley lady and bought two packs of 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Jelly Beans'

"What's on your mind 'Mione?" Ron asked, "You seem a little distracted."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking. . . never mind." I trailed off.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Ron, is it possible for an underage Wizard to apparate?" I asked.

"Well, yeah, but you'd get into all sorts of trouble for that with the Ministry of Magic. Not to mention it's really hard to perform, that's why not many Wizards can do it."

"Why do you want to know?" Harry asked.

"Well, when we were at King cross sta-" I stopped. The room darkened a little, I saw my, Ron's and Harry's shadows slide to the middle of the compartment. We pulled out our wands, the shadows started to look like pitch black smoke, forming a human silhouette. I looked around me, within seconds the shadows melted back to where they belonged, I glanced back at the smoke, but it wasn't there anymore. I was looking at a teenage boy.

**Dun Dun Dun! - lol, you can probably guess who it is, but still :P**

Okay, Love it? Hate it? please review it!  
Thanks

xx


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm really sorry for not updating, I was really busy - please don't hate me. . .**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING OR ANYONE (except the plot** _**maybe**_**)**

**Chapter 3**

_**Nico POV**_

It turned out that shadow travelling to London wasn't that wearing, supposedly I have gained more power over the past few months, I wasn't even tired. But there _was_ a different problem . . .

Uh, oh . . .

was my only thought. I just appeared in the middle of a mortal train station, how thick was I exactly? And if that wasn't bad enough, naturally I just had to cause someone to run into me. The bushy haired brunette lay still in the ground, I silently cursed myself. I knew that with my orientation skills I would get lost easily, so to make sure I'm not late for the train, I left extra early (by like 5 hours). Too bad I forgot about the time difference, so instead of arriving here at 5:53 I arrived at 10:53, which meant that I barely had time to get onto the train, not to mention that I had no idea where in the world I could find a platform 9 ¾.  
I helped the girl up, since it was my fault that she was on the ground in the first place. Fast as lightning, she picked up her books and ran off. I was about to go looking for that damn platform, when something on the floor caught my eye. It was a dark crimson red book with golden trim and the words:  
_'Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them'_ written in gold at the top. I reluctantly picked it up, the girl must've dropped it before she left, it was strange though, as she wasn't anywhere to be found. Well, it's not like she could just sink into one of the platform barriers . . . She looked about my age, so hopefully I'd give it back to her if I met her, if she goes to Hogwarts that is. I took another glance at the ticket, but I wasn't hallucinating, it still said platform 9 3/4 . . . _Hmm, I suppose I could ask someone . . ._ I changed my mind about that as soon as I heard the huge clock chime.

DING! DING! DING!

Great! The only train to Hogwarts just left, Chiron specifically told me that the train leaves exactly at 11am. I was determined to get on with the quest, maybe there was another way of getting there that my teacher didn't know about. I wandered around the station for a good 15 minutes; feeling carefully watched when a police officer came up to me.

"Hello, are you lost?" He asked in a rough deep voice, which suited his bald head and obese body.

"Um, yeah I guess. Do you know where I can find platform 9 3/4?" What? It was worth a try.

"What? There's no such platform, quit messing about kid." He barked. "The exit is just around the corner if you need it." He pointed towards a dark alley. _**(A/N: I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KINGS CROSS STATION LOOKS LIKE IN REAL LIFE, SO I DONT KNOW WHERE THE EXIT ACTUALLY IS. BEAR WITH ME ON THAT.)  
**_  
"Okay, um, thanks?" He nodded and left me. It was quite obvious that if he found me stalking around , I'd probably get another lecture about snooping about like a shadow, and I didn't need that . . .

_SHADOWS! _Why didn't I think of that earlier? I could just shadow travel into one of the trains compartments, who needs the ticket?  
I walked up to the exit alley, because it was the darkest area around, and braced myself - _Hogwarts Express_. I thought. The shadows obeyed, swirling around me like a whirlpool made of smoke. Darkness wrapped it's arms around me, the wind was slashing in my face so fast it felt like my skin was peeling off. I felt shivers down my back, but not the kind when you're scared, these were pleasant shivers that I felt every time I shadow travelled - probably one of the greatest feelings anyone could ever experience. The coldness was dying down, my surroundings were lightning up, which meant that I was close to landing. A solid feeling returned to my feet, as the shadows were clearing away, I came to face three people pointing sticks at me.

***I was going to end it there, but it's not long enough . . . think of it as two different chapters okay?*  
**

The people holding twigs, I'm guessing who were wizards, looked about my age. There was a ginger haired boy, with a freckly face and a vacant expression. He looked kind of lanky. The boy sitting next to him looked like a geeky version Percy, but he had an ugly red scar across his forehead and a pair of glasses. Not to mention that his eyes were a wrong shade of green and he was scrawny. Opposite them was the girl I almost knocked out at the station, she had warm hazel eyes that seemed to scan me, a bit like Annabeth's.

"How did you do that?" asked the redhead guy.

"Um, I -" I wasn't sure how to explain what I just did; luckily the girl cut me off.

"You're the boy from King's cross aren't you?" I nodded.

"Wait, you know him?" Said the Percy-clone

"Yes, well, no. Not really, I ran into him at the station." She held her hand out, "I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" I shook her hand half-heartedly, she had a voice like a stuck up goody two-shoes, but I decided not to judge her on that.

"I'm Nico di Angelo." I turned around to face the boys, "Who are you?" I asked them.

"I'm Ron Weasley." He said, still looking very suspicious of me – hopefully I could get him to forget about me shadow travelling into their compartment.  
The black haired boy looked at me expectantly, like he was waiting for my reaction to who he was, clearly I had no idea.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" I asked impatiently.

"What? You don't know who he is?" Said Hermione, her eyes were bulging out like an owls in shock.

"How can you not know who he is? He's the boy who lived, the boy who defeated the Dark Lord; he's the – "

"I'm Harry Potter." I shook his hand, realizing that he is one of the reasons why I am here.

"Oh, _now _I know who you are, nice to meet you." I smiled – I figured that getting on Harry's good side would help me get through the quest quicker, therefore allowing me to get back to my 'Ghost King' duties.

"Um, do you guys mind if I sit with you?" I asked uncertainly.

"Sure Nico, take a seat." Hermione answered.

"Oh, before I forget. You left this at the station." I opened my back pack and handed her the red book. Ron Weasley's face was red, like he was pissed off with me for even looking at Hermione. He obviously had a crush on her.  
The rest of a journey was a blur, Hermione kept asking me personal, and annoying, questions:

Where are you from? – _America_.

What school did you go to before? – _A special camp for magical kids_, which was partly true . . .

Why did you transfer here? _– My aunt insisted on me going to a British school._

"Who are your parents?" She asked, I looked away and stared at the window.

"I don't like to talk about it." I said. The words were more bitter than I implied. I hated spending my free time thinking of a family I didn't have. It was also weird for me because I haven't talked to anyone about my parents for months now. We sat there in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes.

"So, how did you do that trick with appearing into the compartment?" Harry piped up. _Damn!  
_  
"It, uh, is a trick that my dad once told me." I said, giving Harry one of my death stares. He knew better than to ask me more questions.

Quiet filled the air again, until Ron asked me what house I thought I was going to get into, once we reached Hogwarts.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"In Hogwarts you get sorted into houses, which are like your family, you get points for good behaviour and stuff, and they take points off for rule breaking," The redhead started off, "There are four houses : Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. You get sorted by a talking hat, which puts you in the right house, depending on your personality. Gryffindor is based on brave and daring people, Ravenclaw accepts genius kids, Hufflepuff stands strong for Loyalty, and Slytherin allows cunning and evil ones."

"Evil?" I said.

"Well, not exactly evil, but sly and usually horrid. The Slytherin house has a reputation for having cheaters and bullies in it." He finished.

"Harry, Ron and I are Gryffindors. Which one do you think you'd belong in?" Asked Hermione politely. Well that's the thing isn't it? I never belonged anywhere, even with other demigods at camp, I was always an outcast. How would I fit in? I wasn't very brave, or smart. I wasn't exactly what you might call loyal - it still bothers me that I pulled my own cousin into a trap in the underworld. Maybe I was cunning, but with my luck I knew that I wouldn't get sorted at all. Before I could come up with an answer, the train came to a halt. I filed out of the train with everyone else, there was so many kids I was starting to think that no normal school could hold as many pupils. That was until I saw the building. Sorry _castle_. Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry was actually a medieval looking castle. The towers would've stood out boldly in a New York street, being so tall, but the frame of the castle was so large, the towers fitted in perfectly. The old windows shimmered with golden light coming from the inside.

"First years over 'ere!" Boomed a deep loud voice, "Come on, don' be shy! First years!" I looked in the direction of the sound. The man shouting was as tall as a fully grown Cyclops. Luckily the man wasn't, he had both of his eyes. His face was camouflaged behind a bushy beard, his hair looked like an imitation of Hermione's, but his were much darker and more fuzzy. The giant bloke came up to me and asked:

"Are yer Nico di Angelo?"

"Um, yes." I told him.

"You'll be comin' along with the first years, on a boat." He announced.

"A boat? I can't go on a boat."

"Sure yer can, don' worry. Yer won' drown." He said it so confidently, I almost wanted to believe him. I waved a goodbye to my new acquaintances and followed the huge dude, along with the small first years, up to a massive lake. There was about dozen or so boats waiting on the edge. All the kids started spilling in them. I quickly fished out a golden drachma from my pocket and threw it in the water, saying a silent prayer, which cause quite a few eyebrows to rise. I hoped that Poseidon would be in a good enough mood to let me through just this once.  
Once we reached the shore I told myself that I would sacrifice half of my meals to the Sea god for the rest of the month. I saw a stern looking woman, in emerald green robes and a tight bun, at the top of the staircase.

"Good evenin' Professor McGonagall. 'Ere are yer first years." Said the bearded man.

"Thank you, Hagrid. You may go ahead to the great hall." With that, Hagrid pushed past the smaller kids and went inside. Professor McGonagall explained about the rules and houses, which Ron told me about earlier. When she finally finished we went in through the massive mahogany doors and into the 'Great Hall'. And believe me, it _really _wasgreat. There were four tables aligned vertically to the doors, with four different coloured shrouds, filled with students in black robes. I saw Harry waving his arm at me. _Well, seems like I made a new friend . . ._ There was also another long table at the back, with teachers, I guessed. But the most remarkable part was the ceiling. It looked like the night sky, filled with all kinds of constellations and planets. I saw the huntress running through the stars. _*****_ That reminded me of Zoë, a former lieutenant of Artemis, who was killed by her own father while trying to rescue the goddess and my friend Annabeth. Underneath, there were golden wax candles, which thankfully weren't dripping wax down on us. We walked up to the teacher table, professor McGonagall put a three legged stool in front if it, and placed down a matted old hat.

"As I call your name out, you will sit down on the stool, and you will be sorted into your houses." She said. "Alemore, David!"  
A chubby 11 year old went up to the stool shakily and sat down. After a few moments of silence, the withered hat screamed out, "_RAVENCLAW!_" I knew that had to be the sorting hat, but it was still strange to see it talk. Then again, i converse with dead people, I'm not exactly one to talk . . . After all the first years have been sorted, a guy with a white beard, longer than Percy's Riptide, and even longer hair stood up. The old man had a baby blue robe, and a matching pointy hat.

"Welcome students, to another year at Hogwarts!" His blue eyes twinkled in delight, "I'm sure we are all hungry, but before we can begin the feast, I would like to introduce a new, exchange student from America."

"I am sure you will all make him very welcome to Hogwarts, but he must be sorted first. Minerva, if you please." he gestured at professor McGonagall

"Yes, professor Dumbledore."

"di Angelo, Nico!" I steadily made my way to the stool, I felt everyone's eyes piercing my back. I turned around and slumped on the seat. I caught a glimpse of the hall full of wizards. _What have I gotten myself into?_ The teacher dropped the hat over my eyes and I was, once again, surrounded by darkness.

_Ooh what's this, a demigod? I don't think I ever had the pleasure of meeting one of you. _A voice, that did not belong to me, murmured in my head.

_Who in the Hades are you?_

_I'm the sorting hat. Now let me see your memories so I can sort you. _I immediately blocked my mind, the thought of someone, or some_thing_ in this case, looking through my thoughts was strange.

_You have to let me in, otherwise I can't sort you. _The hat fought and struggled for dominance over my brain for about three minutes when I decided to let it through. It could blow my cover if I didn't get sorted.  
_Finally_ it said.  
_Let's see -_ "_Ahh!_" The hat shouted out loud, "_So much blood and death, the war, and what in the name of Merlin is this?_" The hat was looking at the underworld, the screams of the fields of punishment were heard from my father's palace. The tortured souls were being punished by the furies. The hat looked at the war with Kronos and the Giants. It saw Camp Half-Blood and Lotus Casino. The memories I've tried to seal, such as Bianca's death, have been reopened.  
I yanked the hat from my head before it could see anything else, I put it on the stool.

"_Gryffindor, the boy has lived through so many things, he belongs in Gryffindor._" It whispered, although the hall was silent, ever person present heard it. No one clapped like they did for the others. I sat down at the end of the table, close to Harry and his friends. Hermione looked scared, but she didn't seem scared of me, she seemed scared _for_ me. Like she was worried about what would happen to me. The teachers eyed me suspiciously, like I was some murderer.

"Ahem," coughed the headmaster, "Let the feast, begin!" He spread his hands and food appeared on golden plates. Laughter and chatter covered the silence. In front of me there was a small brazier with flickering red flames - guess Dumbledore knew about godly sacrifices. As I scraped a portion of my food into the fire, Ron glared at me like I just committed a crime. As soon as I finished eating, Harry offered to lead me to the Gryffindor common room. All the way, Hermione kept talking about the amazing architecture of the castle. Wow, she had more in common with Annabeth than I thought . . . We walked up the moving staircases and came to a stop in front of a portrait of a fat lady. As soon as she saw us she said, "Password?"  
"Mimbulus Mimbletonia." Announced a dark haired, stout boy. He was obviously pleased with himself for knowing the password. The kid was hugging some sort of grey coloured cactus.

I went inside the common room. Everything was either red of golden yellow, not my type but pretty impressive. The fire roared inside the hearth, red leather couches surrounded it. There was a staircase leading upstairs.  
"The boys dormitories are upstairs and on the left, the girls the same to the right." Said someone in the back, probably a prefect or some older student. Harry invited me to stay with him and Ron in their dorm room. Which Ron didn't look too happy about. I slung my back pack over my shoulder and followed them up for a good night's sleep. That was until I actually dreamt of a nose less bald dude.

**************************************************** ************************************************** ************************  
Yay! 3000+ words! my new record :)  
_*****__ - you might be thinking that Nico should've thought of Bianca, since she was also a huntress. but as it's mentioned later, he was trying to forget about her death. And She died soon after she became a huntress . . . see the connection? no? never mind . . .  
_

please review and tell me what you think.

**BEFORE YOU LEAVE! **I need ideas on what I could add further on in the story. I will be including the room of requirement soon, and there will also be a boggart somewhere in the story, but i need ideas people! please can you tell me if you have any good thoughts on what i could include ?


	4. Chapter 4

**BWAHAHAHAH! I OWN EVERYTHING!  
****Nah, I'm kidding, I don't own anything (sadly)  
**

**CHAPTER 4**

_**Nico POV**_

_I was standing in a dark room, lit by a dim, flickering chandelier. There was a blazing fireplace, against one of the mouldy pale walls. There was a blood red arm chair in front of it, with a rug on the floor. There was also a short man with long shaggy brown hair; he had rat features, a small button nose and beady mouse eyes. The man's hair was long and shaggy, like hasn't cut it in years. He was cowering in fear in front of the arm chair._

"Your have disappointed me, Wormtail." Said a raspy voice, it was quiet and creepy.

"P-please, my m-master, I didn't mean to. The h-headmaster has con-convinced the ministry t-to let him back into H-H-Hogwarts." Whimpered Wormtail, I think.

"I will not tolerate incompetence. You were meant to make sure that the dementor attack was going to get him expelled!" The voice continued.

"N-no my Lord please, have m-mercy!" he pleaded, bending down to his knees.

"Crucio!" A bright light came towards Wormtail. He wailed in agony, as it struck him with such force he went flying back into the rotting, cracked wall.

In the morning the whole Gryffindor house looked worried to see me. As I went to breakfast, everyone kept glancing at me, like they were surprised to see me in public. I couldn't stand it any longer; the stares they were giving me were really annoying. I calmly walked up to Harry and asked him.

"Why is everyone giving me weird looks?" Harry looked startled, his eyes widened when he saw me, but then he looked down at his shoes as we walked.

"Oh, um . . . well, last night you kind of started attracting the shadows around you, at night. We were worried and someone formed a rumour that you can control the darkness. It's just a silly rumour, and I don't believe it, but you did look a bit, um . . ."

"Creepy," I finished, "yeah I get that a lot." We reached the Great Hall; I slumped on the bench at the Gryffindor table and started filling up my plate with fluffy pancakes and drowning them in syrup. I scraped a part of my meal into the brazier in front of me, which, I figured, appears in front of me wherever I sit.

"Why do you throw away your food into fire before you eat?" Asked Ron with a mouthful of toast, the view was disgusting. Hermione scolded him.

"Ron," Hermione hissed into his ear, "it's rude to ask questions like that." although she started to look at me with curiosity.

"That's ok." I said, while my mind was forming an answer as I said that. "In my religion, I am supposed to sacrifice a portion of my food into the brazier. If not, something bad can happen. It's like a superstition, but it's much more serious where I come from." Most of it is true . . .

"Oh." Ron muttered.

"Really, what religion is it? I've never heard of something like that." Hermione looked interested, but also a bit annoyed. Just like Annabeth when she doesn't know the answer. Before I could make up another lie she glanced over my shoulder and scowled. I turned around and saw two, rather large guys, who reminded me of Frank Zhang, walking on either side of a skinny pale kid. His hair was bleached blond; he had a pointy, aristocratic face. They were from Slytherin, I could tell from their ties being silver and green.

"I heard that you're making friends with Loony Lovegood, Potter. Is that true?"said the blonde kid.

"Sod off, Malfoy." growled Harry, who was sitting next to me.

"Now, now Potter, I'm not here for you. I just wanted to meet the exchange student." He turned to face me and stuck his hand out.  
"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. These are Crabbe" He pointed to the slightly shorter one, "and Goyle." He pointed over his left arm to the really big kid.

"So are you a Pureblood, Half-blood or a Mud- Muggle born?" It might have been my imagination, but I could swear I saw his eyes quickly roll over to Hermione.

"Half-blood" I said reluctantly, not having any idea what the other ones were.

"Well, it's better than being a mudblood." he snorted, "You should watch your company di Angelo. Hanging around with mudblood Ganger isn't going to get you very popular with the Slytherins." Draco turned on his heel and left before any one of us could say anything. The door to the Great Hall opened loudly, revealing a stern looking professor McGonagall. She breezed through the hall and walked over to me.

"Mr di Angelo, this is your lesson schedule." She handed me a fresh piece of parchment with writing all over it. Then she leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper so no one else could hear.

"Mr di Angelo, professor Dumbledore told me who you are. Therefore we translated your timetable and books into ancient Greek for you." She gave me a backpack, "You will also find a wand, which is specially made for you, and school books, written in you language."

"Thank you, professor." I said. As soon as she left Ron leaned in and asked.

"What did she want?"

"None of your business" I snapped. I hate it when people stick their noses somewhere they shouldn't. And I had a good feeling that the trio specialized in being nosey. I got up and left for my first lesson, leaving my breakfast on the table.

_**Harry POV**_

That Nico guy was strange. First he apparates into our compartment, then he makes the sorting hat go mental and now he just snapped at Ron for no apparent reason. Oh, and he also attracts shadows like a magnet while sleeping. There's something wrong with him. Last night, before Nico came into the hall, Ron told me that he could be a death eater. Hermione took offence for that, but I couldn't understand why. She didn't even know the guy, for Merlin's sake!  
I took a look at my timetable. Luckily I was with Hermione and Ron the whole day. Unfortunately, we had double potions first, with the Slytherins. We made our way to the dungeons, and stood outside our potions class. To my surprise, Nico was also in the lesson. Maybe I could talk to him and find out more about him. Snape came over and opened the door. We went into the classroom. Hermione, Ron and I took our usual places in the back of the room. Nico sat directly in front of us, which was really useful; it could give me a chance to talk to him.  
Today we were supposed to be brewing Sleeping Draught, which involved messy ingredients, written down on the blackboard, such as flobberworm mucus. Neville wasn't having any luck with the potion - his cauldron started spewing smoke in the first 10 minutes. Snape evacuated everyone and went back in to conjure some magic mops or something. I took the chance and, along with two of my best friends, we went up to him.

"Hey Nico," smiled Hermione, "how's it going?"

"Uh, good I guess . . ." He replied doubtfully. He was obviously suspicious. "I'm sorry I snapped earlier, I just don't like when people try to find out things about me." _What could he be hiding?_

"That's okay."

"What are –" I was cut off by Snape. He came out to tell us to get back in, not a single Gryffindor looked happy about that.

"That's 20 points from Gryffindor, for delaying my lesson, Longbottom." muttered the teacher. Neville looked worried about the outraged looks Gryffindors had on their faces. But none of us were angry with _him_; it was Snape who pissed us all off. It wasn't Neville's fault that Snape put him under pressure.  
It was almost the end of the lesson, and my potion was almost finished; it was a smooth purple substance, gently brewing in the cauldron. But I couldn't say the same for Nico's, his potion was viper green, and it was bubbling away in a dangerous way - like an erupting volcano. He frowned and squinted at the board. Snape was hovering above the new kid.

"Tell me, Mr di Angelo, can you read?" asked Snape. The Slytherins snickered at that.

"Actually sir, I can't_._" Nico replied. Everyone was stunned. How can he not be able to read, being in 5th year?

"What do you mean?" Snape barked.

"I have dyslexia sir, meaning that letters get twisted around in my head." He said.

"See me after class." As if on cue, the bell rang and I headed towards the door. Hermione and Ron left for charms after I told them I'll catch up with them later. I decided to wait and ask Nico a few questions. After a few minutes, Nico stormed past me. I had to run to keep up with him.

"What's up Nico?" I asked.

"Nothing." He said, not bothering to look at me.

"Come on, I know what Snape is like. You can trust me."

"No, I can't." He stopped and looked at me. His black soulless eyes bore into mine. I couldn't stand his glare and looked away. He walked off, the shadows clinging to him like glue. I didn't see him for the rest of the day. Nico also didn't show up at dinner, or in the Gryffindor tower for that matter . . .

The following days I hardly saw him at mealtimes, and when I did I saw him sitting at the very end of the table, by himself. He would not talk to anyone, at all. I said 'at all' what I meant was, anyone except for Luna Lovegood . . . it was shocking, but she was the only person in the whole school willing to go up to him and carry out a normal conversation. Ron sniggered at that thought, a weirdo and a freak – and I thought he was right. Me, Ron and Hermione tried to talk to Luna about him, but she never said much. No matter how much we pestered her about it, she would ignore our questions and start talking about Nargles or Wrackspurts, whatever they were.  
I felt really confused, Hermione started acting really strange – she was distracted and even forgot her charms homework assignment! I think it's because she was too busy researching the di Angelo family - and Ron began babbling about death eaters. They both started saying that I should be careful around Nico, and they were completely right. I mean, what kind of 15 year old, apparatus into _my_ compartment makes the sorting hat go mental and then says that he has a muggle disability. He was not normal. I wanted to know as much about him as possible, even if it meant spying on him with the marauders map and the invisibility cloak. But I spoke to Dumbledore, and he said that he was on our side and not to get involved.  
Then again, me, Ron and Hermione always got involved, and knew almost everything what was going on at Hogwarts. I couldn't shake the feeling that Nico was evil, a death eater - or even worse, Voldemort's son . . .

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!  
**I am so sorry guys! I was busy so I didn't work on the story much, please don't kill me! Also thank you for those who put up with me and were patient! I am sorry that this one is so short, the next one will be longer! :) Please remember that you can PM me any ideas you have for the story!

here's cookies for you (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)


	5. Chapter 5

**My brains do not match Rick Riordan's or J.K Rowling's. Therefore I do not own Nico di Angelo (sadly) or the others, which I don't care as much about. :P - just so you know, this is before the Giant war, but after the Titans.  
**

**CHAPTER 5**

_**Nico POV**_

Screw Snape! That fucking, greasy haired git! You have no idea what that idiot did. The potions professor told me to stay behind after the lesson, so I did – much to my dismay. He stood behind his desk with his arms across his chest. He glared at me as came up to him.

"Sit." He growled. I slumped down on the stool opposite his desk and looked up at him. Snape leaned over the table, resting his arms on it. His face was just inches from mine.

"Do you have any idea what you could have done?" He hissed. "If you brewed the wrong potion, even by_ accident_ you could have created an explosion that could have potentially destroyed the whole school!"

"I thought that Dumbledore would have told you about me and my disabilities." I said calmly.

"He did, but I thought that you might have enough brains to think it through and ask someone to charm your eyes or configure you special glasses. Clearly you have no idea what magic is for. I personally think that half breeds like you shouldn't be allowed in the Wizarding world -"

"Don't call me a _half breed_. One single demigod is better than a whole _army_ of you pathetic Wizards!" I barked.

"Silence" He roared, I was actually impressed by how loud he can project his voice. You know how they say that some people 'suffer in silence', well I thought that Snape is a 'punish in silence' type.  
"In case you didn't already know that, Hogwarts is a school of _Witchcraft _and _Wizardry_, and while you are in this school, you _will_ respect the teachers. This may have escaped your notice but _I am_ a teacher, which gives me the privilege to give you detention, Mr di Angelo. You will come here before dinner starts, and I can set you your punishment. Get out." I was furious. I could have gone on and argued with him that he's more of a brat than a teacher, but I knew better than to do so. I stood up and stormed out of the potions class. On my way out of the dungeons Harry came up to me. _Great, _I thought. Just what I needed, more company of Wizards.

"What's up Nico?" He asked politely, but I wasn't in the mood.

"Nothing," I kept walking, _maybe he would leave me alone?_

"Come on, I know what Snape is like. You can trust me." He ran up to me. _Guess not . . ._

"No, I can't." I stopped in my track and looked him deep in the eyes and gave him my best '_You don't know who you're messing with_' stare. As I turned to leave, I felt even more pissed. I could feel the shadows practically jumping on me. I knew that I _could_ trust Harry. But I wasn't going to tell anyone anything. Revealing my identity to them so soon could be risky, I had to wait to gain their trust, but obviously I wasn't going to get on with them. Like a few of the campers put it, I was a social outcast.  
I skipped the rest of the lessons that day, and didn't bother to go back to the common room after the detention. - Snape made me clean out the cauldrons by hand. It took me a few hours, but I managed to get out of that room before the sun even started to set. - Instead of having to face the Gryffindors I went out for a walk into the forbidden forest. It was obvious that most of the people here were terrified of the forbidden forest, but there was no one around so . . .

As I went in deeper I came to the conclusion that this forest is much less dangerous than the one back at camp. Sure there were heaps of creatures which I didn't recognise, but none of them attacked me or anything. Maybe it was because I smelled like death, and they didn't like it. I was deep in the forest, next to a rather large lake; the setting sun gave just enough light to make a rainbow if I splashed the water. I chucked a golden drachma at the faint rainbow and muttered the prayer. I must have looked like a right idiot, splashing water and throwing money in the lake. Then the mist screen appeared and I saw Percy.

"Hey, Nico" He cheered. I would never admit it to him, but I was glad to see him. He had a grin plastered on his face, and from the wild look in his eyes and his ripped t-shirt, he must have just finished training. His forehead was beaded with sweat. True enough that he wore the Achilles curse, but he still got worn out easily.

"Hey Percy" I smiled lightly.

"Chiron told us about your quest. How's it coming?" He asked. _Us?_

"Percy, I just got here yesterday, this quest is going to take a whole school year." I said. He looked at me expectantly. "It's going good," I sighed. "Who did you mean by _us_?" I asked.

"Oh, um . . . " He bit his lip, "you know just err, me, Annabeth and thewholecamp . . ." He mumbled the last bit so quietly I couldn't make it out.

"What?"

Percy breathed out. "The whole camp knows about it, so do all the gods." I was confused. No one usually cared that much about a stupid quest. Why would all the campers and gods need to be informed?

"How does everyone know?" I asked. Stupid question, obviously Chiron told them.

"Chiron told us." Percy said. _See?_ - A very stupid question. It's that kind of feeling you have, when you know an answer, but you will ask the question anyway.

"None of the gods trust the Wizards, except Hecate of course. Your dad had to know about this, because firstly, you are supposed to kill a guy who cheated him and caused him heaps of paperwork. Besides, he's got to know who to torture if anyone tries to kill my little cousin." he smirked at the last part.

"Shut up." I told him. The sun was setting quite rapidly, so I said goodbye and waved my hand through the vision.  
I got up and started strolling around the area, until I heard a '_**crack**_' coming from ahead of me. It was definitely a branch being snapped on the ground. I kept my hand on the hilt of my sword, attached to my belt, and silently crept up behind a tree. I peeked behind the tree and saw a girl, my age, with dirty blonde hair reaching her slim waist. She had a normal light blue cardigan and light gray leggings. Her feet must have been freezing, because she wasn't wearing any shoes, despite the fact that it was dusk and the ground was damp. It wasn't the girl who caught my eye though. It was the creatures she was feeding raw, bloody meat to.  
The beautiful monsters looked like skeletal pegasi. They were made of black bones and no organs, flesh or blood between them. They had magnificent webbed, outstretched bat-like wings, which looked impossible for flight. Instead of eyeballs, they had hollow, empty eye sockets on their reptilian looking faces. I could tell that they weren't dead, but they also weren't alive, kind of like zombies.

"They're called Thestrals." said a quiet, dreamy voice to my right. I was so focused on the creatures, that I didn't hear the blonde girl come up behind me. I tuned my head around and met her silver gray eyes. If the sorting hat didn't mention that it never sorted a demigod before, I could have easily mistaken her for a daughter of Athena. She had similar features to Annabeth. Apart from the fact that mystery girl here had arched eyebrows, so she constantly looked surprised.

"I'm Luna Lovegood." She said gently.

"Um, I'm -" I started. I wasn't expecting to meet anyone this deep into the forest.

"Nico di Angelo. Yes, I saw you at the sorting ceremony. I must say, it was fascinating to see the hat scream. But you better watch out, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger like to know things. They will most likely try to find out everything about you." She went over to one of the Thestrals and stroked it gently.

"Why would they do that?" I asked.

"Well, you raised a lot of suspicion with the way you apparated into Harry's compartment." She said.

"I didn't apparate; I don't even know what it is! Wait, how do you know about that?" I asked.

"I'm in Ravenclaw; I have a way of finding things out. Knowledge is my advantage." She said. Luna started to sway her arms as she walked around the dark clearing while I gaped at her. Then she did something unexpected, she flung her arm around her head, like she was trying to swat something. I must have had a confused look on my face, because Luna smiled sweetly at me and said

"Nargles." I had no idea what Nargles were though. I looked at the Thestrals once again. A foal slowly trotted up to me and sniffed my leg. I put my pale hand on its black muzzle. Luna approached me again, and stoked the creature.

"People usually avoid them, because they're quite . . ." she trailed off

"different." I finished. I knew the feeling. Back in America, whenever I was on the streets everyone would avoid me. They would even trail off the side walk, just so they wouldn't have to walk past me. And if they did come near me, they would give me disdainful looks, like I wasn't worth being alive. Now that I think of it, it wasn't just in America, it was _everywhere_. Even some gods looked at me that way, for instance, Persephone, my stepmother.  
About half an hour later we made our way back into the castle. I learnt from Luna that only people who have seen death can see Thestrals. She said that she saw her mother die when one of her potions went wrong. She seemed okay with it though. I found out a few things about her as well. Like that her dad is the editor of 'Quibbler', a Wizard magazine, and that 'Nargles' like to take and hide her shoes.

"What are Nargles?" I asked after a while of silence.

"They're magical creatures that live in mistletoe, but they like to play pranks on innocent people." She explained _**(AN: Sorry if I get facts about Luna or the Nargles wrong, I do not know them very well...)  
**_We arrived at Hagrid's hut just before curfew. I kindly walked Luna back to her common room. Once we reached it she turned around and said.

"It was nice meeting you Nico. Goodnight." With that she whispered the password and disappeared into the night. I strolled back to the Gryffindor tower quietly, the halls were empty and nothing was making a sound, even my footsteps. That's one of my skills, when you're on the run from monsters you need to be as quiet and quick as possible. I, being a son of Hades, have learnt to be 'silent as death'. You couldn't even hear me breathing if you were millimetres from my face. I said the password to the portrait – which I thought was really stupid – and crept up to my dormitory.

The following days I spent with Luna, as it turned out I had most of my lessons with her. She was a great friend to have, but I always kept a close eye on 'the golden trio' – I heard a couple of Hufflepuffs calling them that. It was annoying that every Gryffindor was so scared of me that they avoided my eye contact. I usually didn't eat, so I was hardly ever in the great hall, but when I was there I'd sit alone. I did want to be alone, but it bothered me that all the kids from my table would lower down their voices and look at me from time to time.  
It was Friday when I met the wicked witch of the west. Her name was Dolores Umbridge – Umbitch if you ask me – and she was my Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. It was another one of my lessons that I had with Harry. Anyway, as we came inside, I started to notice that this classroom is different than others. There were large windows against the left hand side of the room and a staircase at the very back. At the top of the stairs, through the opened doors, I saw pink walls filled with pictures of kittens on plates. The toad in pink had a very weird way of introducing herself – she gave us a lecture on how to say 'good morning'. What the Hades? – And told us to sit down. As usual, I took my place right at the back of the room, next to the exit. She handed out textbooks and told us to copy down what was inside. I thought that was ridiculous, learning theory and not actually practising spells wouldn't be any good in magic combat. It's just the same with a sword fight. You can read about it, but it's no use if you don't actually practice. Hermione's hand shot up into the air. Umbridge looked at her but chose to ignore her, hoping that she would give up. Everyone started scribbling on their parchments. After a couple of minutes Hermione's hand was still high in the air. The teacher finally said: "What is it?"

"Professor, won't we be learning how to use spells?" Hermione asked.

"Use spells? I don't see why you would need to _use_ them." Umbridge replied.

"Then what's going to prepare us for what's out there?" Harry's voice broke in.

"There is _nothing _out there, Mr Potter. Who do you think would want to hurt little children like yourselves?" Umbridge faked a sweet smile.

"Oh I don't know, maybe . . . Lord Voldemort." He stated. She glared at him.

"You have been told that a certain dark wizard has returned. That – is – a – lie."

"It's not a lie! I saw him, I fought him!" Harry shouted.

"DETENTION," She screamed, "Mr Potter!" I knew I should intervene. But I wanted to know what Harry would do. The bell rang. For some reason, that lesson seemed much shorter. I smiled to myself; this year was going to be interesting.

That afternoon I went up to the school's library. It was massive, Annabeth would have been delighted. I searched and searched through the books, looking for something about the way horcruxes are made. I knew that you'd have to kill someone, but wizards wouldn't just pick up a knife and stab someone. They would use magic, so I was looking up the killing spell. After over 4 hours of browsing I got hungry, so I went down to the great hall.  
I strolled into the dining hall, and sat down quietly at the table. I saw Hermione get out of her seat and walk over to me confidently. She sat next to me and smiled.

"Hey Nico" She said. I admit, I was a bit suspicious, but who can blame me? I replied with a simple 'hi'.

"What do you plan on doing after dinner?" she asked me. I looked in the direction of Harry. He seemed confused, whereas Ron stopped eating and glared at me. His hand was gripping his fork so tight that his knuckles turned white.

"I'm not sure. I think I will go back to the library." I said.

"Oh, that's great! I was actually going to ask you whether you'd um, you know, if you'd like to study with me for O. ."

"Uh sure, why not," I replied. I scraped a part of my meal into the dancing flames and dug into the chicken breast in front of me. I was going to go there anyway. Maybe I could ask her a few questions about their dark arts.

After dinner, we made our way up the moving stairs, with the portraits eyeing us every now and then. I heard loud footsteps behind us.  
"Hermione!" I heard Harry's voice echoing across the walls. We turned around and faced a furious Ron and Harry running up the stairs.

"What do you think you're doing with _him_?"Asked Ron. Both, he and the boy who lived were just a few steps away from us.

"We're going to the library, _Ronald._ You don't have to be so rude!" She scolded. Ron grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him. He started whispering something to her, but it was loud enough for me to hear.

"Hermione, he could be a _death eater_, or even the son of _Voldemort_! You saw how he apparated into our compartment, and how he made the sorting hat act crazy!" Ron hissed.

"You know, you really shouldn't talk about someone when they're just a few feet away from you." I glared into his blue eyes. I continued upstairs casually. _Voldemort's son_? What in the name of Hades? Here I am, willing to help those idiots win their upcoming war, and they suspect me as _the bad guy?_ And why would I be a _death_ eater. Thanatos would taste disgusting!

**Okay, so far so good. I would really like your honest opinion of the story in the REVIEWS! Also if you could PM me any ideas you have on what should happen next I AM OPEN FOR SUGGESTIONS!  
Oh, and before I forget to write this, I'm thinking of how to introduce Nico's boggart. Do you think I should get Umbridge fired and bring Lupin in or something? Or would that be a little too far off the story? FEEL FREE TO GIVE ME YOUR IDEAS!**

Reviews are my cookies. Would you deny me a cookie? (::) (::) (::) (::) :3


	6. Chapter 6

**Percy Jackson and Harry Potter both belong to amazing authors. Unfortunately neither of them is me . . .**

**CHAPTER 6**

_**Nico POV**_

A few minutes later, I was in the library. Harry and Ron kept arguing with Hermione, about me being the bad guy, so I decided to slip away quietly and finish looking through the spells alone. It wasn't too long though before Hermione came in, followed by her two best friends.

"Sorry about that Nico." She huffed and looked at the boys menacingly.

"That's fine." I replied. I continued to browse, and found one book that was interesting. It had a bunch of spells, from a levitating spell to a spell that can change you into something else. But no killing spells.

"What are you looking for?" Hermione asked. Until now, she was sitting quietly at the other end of the library, reading a book. Ron and Harry on the other hand, sat on either side of her defensively, sending me evils. I wasn't sure whether I should tell her about my research. It would be a bit strange don't you think? Just imagine:

********  
**_"What book are you looking for?"_**

**_"Oh, just the usual book that would tell me about the killing curses. You wouldn't know any, would ya?"_**

"Nothing important, why" I asked

"I might be able to help you." She seemed willing to help, but deep in her dark brown eyes I could see that she was curious to know what I wanted.

"Nah, I'm good. Besides, weren't you the one who said that you would be studying?"

"And didn't _you_ say that you'd be studying with me?" She smirked playfully and crossed her arms across her chest. She had me there.

"Yeah well, it was kind of ruined by your friends." I turned around and continued looking – with my back facing Hermione.

"Ruined? What do you mean by that?" She dropped her arms.

"I don't really appreciate it when people, that hardly know my name, glare at me like I committed a crime, while I am doing nothing to them in return." I said calmly.

"Oh right," She frowned, "maybe some other time then?"

"Yeah, ok." She turned to walk away, but I quickly grabbed her hand. Harry and Ron both shot up from their seats and pulled their sticks – sorry, _wands_ - out.

"Before you go," I said hurriedly, looking at the boys making their way towards us, "can you tell me about the killing curse?" I whispered the last part. I admit, I was desperate – I just wanted to get this quest over and done with. She looked like me like I just murdered her cat, Crookshanks.

"Why?" She asked me. I bit my lip and glanced at them again. She looked over her shoulder and saw what I was worried about.

"Meet me at the astronomy tower at midnight. I want to talk to you." She said. I let go of her hand and she left. I knew I shouldn't have said anything – but I needed help. If I was supposed to know about this crap, I would need help, and Luna just simply wasn't enough. And _maybe_ I could get some information about Harry's past while I'm at it . . .

_**Hermione POV**_

I thought that I might have slept in, but luckily my charmed clock worked. It was quarter to midnight, I silently crept up to one of the boy's dormitories. I couldn't see Nico, so he must have been at the astronomy tower already. Although, his bed curtains were drawn, so I wasn't sure. I heard loud snoring coming from Neville's bed, as I closed the door behind me. I looked around, searching for Harry's bed. Much to my surprise, he was sitting up, looking at me.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" He asked reaching for his glasses, which were on his bedside table.

"I came to ask you whether you could lend me your dad's old invisibility cloak." I whispered.

"Why?"

"I'm going to meet Nico-"

"What!" He yelped.

"Shhh!" I hissed. Dean stirred in his sleep and mumbled something about quidditch.

"Why do you want to meet up with him, is there something I should know?"

"No, Harry. It's not what you think. He wants to talk to me about uh - something and I could use that opportunity to find out some information about him." Harry seemed to consider my words, before getting out of his bed and taking the cloak deep from the bottom of his trunk.

"Be careful Hermione. We don't know who he really is." He said as he placed the soft material into my hand.

"Thanks." I whispered as I slipped through the door.

I stood at the top of the astronomy tower, overlooking the black lake, when the door opened. I still had the invisibility cloak around me, so Nico shouldn't have seen me.

"Hermione, why are you wearing that?" He asked me. I took off the cloak and looked at him,

"So that I wouldn't get spotted on my way here. How did you see me?" I thought that Nico looked kind of nervous for a second, but his expression was always stern and emotionless, it was hard to imagine him concerned. I noticed that he always had similar clothes on. During school hours, he wore a plain black shirt; black skinny jeans; a pair of worn out converses and a school robe with the Gryffindor emblem on the side. Tonight he was wearing a black shirt with a skull on it, ripped jeans with a chain belt and a black leather jacket. What caught my eye was a silver skull ring on his finger.

"I heard you. You breathe very loudly." He put his hands in his pockets.

"Right, you wanted to know about the killing curse. I want some information." I said, as-a-matter-of-factly.

"What kind of information?" He asked curiously.

"Like, why would you want to know about the killing curse?"

"I like to know about things, okay?" He said.

"Why?"

"I have a . . . a friend, like you. There is nothing she wouldn't know about. I suppose she's had an influence on me." He said.

"How do I know I can trust you?" I asked. It was getting interesting.

"You don't. But believe me this; I _am_ on your side." He leaned on the wall. I looked him into his pure black eyes, and knew he was telling the truth. I didn't know how I knew that. I just did.

"I'm not going to tell you what it is." I said, "That curse is illegal, also known as one of the _unforgivable_ curses." He sighed.

"Hermione - if you're not going to tell me, why did you tell me to come up here?"

"I have a question that will help me decide, err, something." I responded. He murmured something underneath his breath.

"Fine, go ahead, ask."

"Show me your left arm." I stated.

"What?"

"You heard." I nodded. He pushed off the wall and stood in front of me. He slowly lifted the sleeve of his jacket and revealed his pale forearm. I admit I _was_ expecting to see a black tattoo with a snake coming out of a skull. And I want to say that I wasn't disappointed. But that would be a lie. The truth was, I was dissatisfied - _hey, I could have caught a death eater by myself -_ and I felt extremely ashamed of myself. One thing I couldn't stop was an 'oh' escaping my mouth.

"'Oh' what did you want to see?" He asked. I let go of his arm.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter. Look, I have to go. But - if you want information about the curses, I'd go to the restricted section of the school's library." I put on the cloak and walked out.

On my way back to the common room, I felt terrible. I wanted to be his friend, not suspect him of being the bad guy. After he specifically said that I _can _trust him - and I believed him, weird huh?

_**Nico POV**_

I was confused. Why would Hermione want to see my arm? Did she expect to see a tattoo or something? **(:3)**  
She tried to hide it, but I could see the disappointment in her eyes.  
I decided to let it go and go up to the library. What?  
You seriously didn't think that I would go to bed just like that, when I had the opportunity to find the killing curse. I shadow travelled into the library's restricted section. It smelled musty, like no one has been in there for years, just like the attic in the Big house. It was dark, but I was used to that. My bedroom in the Hades wasn't exactly a bright happy place.

Anyway, back to the point. I started walking through rows and rows of dusty old shelves, all filled with random crap. I wanted to get to the 'K' – the killing curse. Much to my discontent, once I reached that part of the library, there wasn't _anything _on that particular subject.  
I was just about to go to the 'U' section, when I heard an ungodly growl coming from behind me.

I slowly turned around, placing my hand quietly on my sword. I locked eyes with a lion. At first I thought it could be something to do with the Gryffindor house. But it made it obvious that it was the Greek Chimera, when I saw the 10 foot snake tail trailing behind its massive body. It's golden fur shimmered in the moonlight, coming from the dirty windows. I thought I couldn't be more disturbed when I saw it's tail. Well, I was wrong. Turned out that it also had a goad head sprouting out of it's back. I knew Percy had to jump out of a monument to save his life against that thing. That didn't exactly encourage me.  
I pulled out my sword and dived to the side, just as the monster breathed fire, and burnt everything in the place where I stood, not a whole second ago. I got to my feet and blocked the snake head that was coming my way. I made a deep cut in the diamond shaped head and struck my sword into the ground. What I didn't think about is that I was on the third floor, which was nowhere near any skeletons. Oops . . .

Before I could pull my sword out of the wood, the Chimera blew fire once again, causing me to roll in the opposite direction, behind an old desk. I panicked and started throwing books at it, in defence. I was surrounded by piles of fiery books, laying here and there. I improvised and pulled off my chain belt. The steel should be strong enough to keep it occupied while I retrieved my weapon. Then I could easily send the beast to Tartarus. I took a deep breath and jumped onto the table. The Chimera was apparently surprised - like no one before has tried hand-to-claw combat, so it momentarily stood there, giving me the chance to jump on it. I wobbled on it's back, trying to gain balance, and not get bit by the snake or the goat. I wrapped the chain around its lion head, closing it's maw. I ran the length of it's body and to tangled up all it's heads in position. I jumped off the monster and pulled my sword out. All Hades broke loose.  
My chain belt broke, releasing three angry animal heads in my direction. The lion's claws tore off my jacket -_ which was a pity, because I really liked that jacket_ - and scratched my face. The Chimera roared so loudly, the windows shattered, giving me several cuts on my exposed arms . Not to mention that it lit 3/4 of the books in the restricted section on fire. Despite the loudness, I heard footsteps coming towards us. That's when I saw it. 'The Unforgivable Curses', lying on the floor, just behind the monster. It was a tatty old book, covered in fuzzy stuff and in chains, but I could make it work. As quick as a flash, I ran up to the creature and put it out of its misery, impaling it's heart. Unfortunately, before the whole thing turned into dust, I managed to get myself bitten, by the snake, just below my rib cage.  
Pain seared through my body, making me crumple to my knees. I had to get the book and get out of there before anyone saw me. I crawled over as fast as I could and picked it up. I grabbed onto a table and hoisted myself up, clutching my stomach. I was about to shadow travel to the Gryffindor tower when I noticed a sharp, white object on the dark mahogany floor. I sighed heavily and bent over to pick it up, wincing as I did so. It was a snake tooth. A spoil of war. I didn't have time to think about that. I concentrated on the shadows around me, I was thinking of my bed in our dorm. I have no idea how it happened, but on the way there, I let go of both the fang and the book. With luck they would land on my bed. I, on the other hand, took a detour and landed in an empty corridor, somewhere between the library and the tower. I doubled over and hit my head hard on the ground. The last thing I saw, was my blood, spilling on the cold marble floor. Naturally, I blacked out.

**I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit weird. And I apologise that the chapter, once again, ends with Nico sleeping/passing out. Well, never mind :3 I hope you guys liked it. I'm going to start on the next one on Tuesday - that's in 3 days.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I own nothing :( *cries in the corner***

**CHAPTER 7**

_**Harry POV**_

I couldn't sleep. I definitely couldn't trust Nico, and I wanted to know why Hermione wanted to meet him in the middle of the night. Then again, Hermione always was, and still is, the smartest witch of her age - she _always_ knows what she's doing.  
I heard the door opening and stood up. Hermione's head popped through the door.

"Oh hi, Harry. Thanks again for the cloak." Hermione gave me back the invisibility cloak.

"That's okay." I looked at her, "Hermione, um, so what did you find out about him?"

She looked down at the floor. "I guess nothing really. He's definitely not a death eater." I looked at her puzzled.

"How do you know?"

"I asked him to show me his left arm, and there was nothing there." She said.

"I think you just made it really obvious to him that we suspected him. Besides, maybe he didn't get the mark yet." I stated.

"Harry, it doesn't matter. I'm tired." She opened the door and was about to step out.

"Hermione," She turned around, "why _did_ you go to meet him?" She sighed.

"He . . . he wanted to know about the -" A terrible noise shook the school. Seamus literally fell out of his bed, while Ron jumped so high, his head hit the top of the bunk.

We all went downstairs and saw that all Gryffindors woke up at the sound. The prefects were trying to rally up the students back into beds, but in the end, every person left the tower and headed for the library - that's where the noise seemed to come from.

On the way, we caught up with the teachers. Me and Ron lost Hermione somewhere in the crowd. We were between Dumbledore and professor Flitwick. Somewhere off to my right I heard Madam Pince shouting:

"If something happened to the library, I will have the culprit suspended for the rest of their days!"

Not soon after, we were walking up the library steps, followed by the population of Hogwarts, when suddenly everything went quiet. The headmaster stopped in his track. I could only hear whispering of the pupils, but other than that, nothing.

Dumbledore opened the library door and walked in. There was smoke everywhere, it was hard to breathe, and in the restricted section, you could see fire. Madam Pince gasped and grabbed her chest as she collapsed on the floor. Professor McGonagall rushed to her aid and helped her up. Dumbledore stood there dumbfounded, which was a really unusual look for him. A few students noticed the damage and it spread through the rest of the kids like plague, everyone started talking at once. Dumbledore yelled over the racket:

"Prefects, take your houses to your dormitories _immediately_! Can I have the teachers with me please?" I turned on my heel and left the ruins of the library.

"Harry!" I was halfway down the staircase when I heard my name being called. Ron was leaning on the library's doorframe.

"What are you doing? We're supposed to go back." I said.

"I know, but Dumbledore wants you." He passed me and disappeared behind the corner. I ran up the stairs and ran into the head teacher. He leaned over and looked into my eyes. I found it disturbing that his eyes didn't twinkle like usually.

"Harry, was Nico di Angelo with you when you came in here?" He asked, with the same tone he used when my name was picked out of the Goblet of Fire.

"No professor. Why would he?"

"Was he in your dormitory when you woke up?" Dumbledore continued.

"Uh, I'm not sure – his curtains were drawn, I didn't see him on the way here though." He stood up and patted my back.

"Go back to your bed, Harry. And don't take any unnecessary trips around the school." His lips twitched in the old smile that welcomed back his face, and I returned to my bed.

_**"#¤%&/(&/()=&/ TIME LAPSE ¤"%&¤#%&/(&%)&/=)**_

I woke up and stretched. As I opened my curtains, I saw that Ron was getting dressed, which was completely out of order – he would usually still be asleep.

"Ron, what are you doing up?" I asked him.

"I dunno, couldn't sleep." That shocked me. Ron could sleep through an earthquake, something must have been wrong.

"Okay, what's up?"

"I'm not sure, Harry." He sighed; "I just have a bad feeling about, you know . . ." He looked towards Nico's bed.

"C'mon, you know Dumbledore wants the best for the whole of Hogwarts, and he's a bloody genius, he wouldn't let anyone in if they were evil." Honestly, although I was trying to comfort Ron, I'm pretty sure I was trying to convince myself. I remembered the time he employed Quirrel and Voldemort on the back of his head (he didn't know about that), or how Dumbledore didn't know where the Chamber of Secrets was – maybe the head teacher sometimes _didn't_ know about things that happened at Hogwarts, and that could include death eaters in the school. I shuddered at the thought.

Me, Hermione and Ron were scoffing down eggs and bacon, down at the Gryffindor table in the Great hall, when Dumbledore stood up. I couldn't spot Madam Pince at her usual seat, next to Snape. After what happened yesterday, she must have been still in her room, traumatized.

"Students of Hogwarts, I have an important announcement. Due to the unfortunate accident in the library, the area around it is out of bounds until further notice." Most of the Ravencalws and a few others, including Hermione, protested loudly.

"And if I may," the headmaster continued, "please, if you see Madam Pince, be careful not to touch the subject of the library. She will have to put up with a therapy after what she saw, and I would like to ask you to be on your best behaviour if you see her around." On that happy note, we disbanded.

It was only during the last period when I realised that I haven't seen Nico di Angelo throughout the whole day. It could have been something to do with the fact that I hardly slept the night before. Moreover, was Friday afternoon and tomorrow would be weekend, and I could get up later than usual, there would be no homework due the next day, Hermione wouldn't be nagging us to get to lessons faster . . . you get the picture. Nevertheless, it was History of Magic class, and professor Binns was acting odd. I mean, sure the guy could put you to sleep just by coming in the room, but this time there was something seriously wrong with him. He seemed scared. The teacher eyed everyone cautiously, like he was looking for someone in particular.

His stuttering was more often than usual, but he relaxed more once he saw everyone in the class. I thought of all the people who were supposed to be in this class, but weren't in here right now. Luna wasn't in there, or Ginny. But Ginny was sick, so she was in the infirmary. I looked around more, _Nico_. That's who Binns must have been worried about, that would explain him acting weird. Nico di Angelo did look pretty intimidating, but to scare a teacher?

_**Luna POV**_

I felt sorry for Madam Pince, she was a smart lady - she didn't let Wrackspurts in her head, unlike most of the other adults at Hogwarts. It was a pity that the Nargles decided to take my shoes on the night of the fire. It made walking across the castle uncomfortable.

Professor Dumbledore told all the students to go back to bed; most of the Ravencalws were disappointed, because they didn't get to see what happened in the library. I, on the other hand, got a glimpse of the burning shelves, and smashed windows. The restricted section looked particularly damaged, with giant burn marks and scratches on the floor.

I was carried away with the crowd, but I didn't like to be with a large group of people, so I took a longer way back to the common room. At the end of the hallway, I saw a dark, maroon puddle. I slowly approached the corner of the corridor and gasped. Spread out, on the floor before me, was a boy with moonless black hair, matted with blood. He wore dark clothes, and had cuts all over his body. I couldn't make out his face, because it was too dark and his hair was in the way. However I could see something red on his face, a scar probably. It was Harry, wasn't it? I didn't hesitate and ran for the infirmary, to get Madam Pomfrey.

I didn't have to go far. I literally ran into our school nurse on my way there.

"What are you doing out of bed?" She looked at me with concern.

"Madam Pomfrey, there's a boy," I said between breaths, "and he's bleeding, badly." I didn't wait for her response. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along with me.

Once we got there, Madam Pomfrey let out a strangled scream. The boy hasn't moved a muscle, but there was much more blood around him. She immediately whipped out her wand and placed the levitating charm on him. The boy grunted quietly.

"I'll take care of him. You go to the headmaster and tell him to come into the hospital wing." She said. I saw her walking away rapidly, with the blood dripping down from the boy's limp body. I turned on my heel and ran in the other direction.

I burst into Dumbledore's office.

"Miss Lovegood, what can I do for you?" he said calmly. I always admired how peaceful he always was, even in dire situations.

"There's someone in the infirmary. He's badly wounded." Dumbledore stormed past me and disappeared in the shadows as I returned into my dormitory.

_**Nico POV**_

My first thought was, too much white. I opened my eyes and was blinded by the brightness. It took a while for my view to adjust, but after a few minutes I saw that I was lying in a white bed in a plain room. Around me there were more beds like that and several curtains blocking my view from them. I saw something on the bed opposite me. I tried to it up, but my vision flared and I fell back down. My arms never felt so weak and my stomach was in so much pain, it hurt to breathe. I recalled last night's events. I killed the monster, the book and fang should be on my bed, and I passed out. I picked up the covers and glanced at my abdomen. That was a mistake. From the middle of my chest, down to my waist I had bandages, which were stained with blood and mustard yellow liquid - most likely the venom. I wasn't too concerned about that, I knew that venom would come out eventually if I got some nectar and ambrosia, but I was a bit worried that someone found me and bought me there. That would raise a lot of questions. You could see scars all over my body. Not just from yesterday, but from the Giant and Titan wars as well. I felt kind of sorry to whoever saw them; the person must have been in quite a shock. I suddenly realized that my sword wasn't with me. My eyes widened as I patted the whole bed in search for my weapon.

"Ah, you're up then at last!" A middle aged woman came into the room. She was wearing a long white apron on top of a crimson red dress. On her head she had a nurse's cap.

"Err, yeah." I said.

"How are you feeling?" She asked and started pouring water into a cup.

"I'm fine." I mumbled. The lady helped me sit up, and handed me the glass, gratefully, I drank the cold liquid.

"What's the time?" I asked.

"It's 1 in the afternoon, but that's okay, you're excused from lessons today."

"Lessons, I thought it was Thursday?" I exclaimed. The nurse smiled politely.

"You've slept all the way for the past four days." _What_? How could I sleep through _four goddamn days_?

"When . . . when will I be able to leave?" I asked. I had to get some ambrosia to expel the poison.

"Leave? That gash you have there," she pointed to my stomach, "is infected. You won't be able to leave until I fix you up."

"But I have to-"

"No, you will stay right there." She said. I sighed and started thinking of escape plans when Dumbledore came into the room, which I concluded was the infirmary.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I have to talk to Mr di Anglo." He smiled.

"Of course, headmaster" The nurse left the room. The old man came up to me and sat on the end of my bed.

"Now, Nico, I think you might find that you are missing this." He took out my sword from underneath his purple robe.

"How did you get that?" I asked.

"I caught up with Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, and detached your sword from your belt before she could see it." He handed me my weapon. "You must promise me that you will be more careful. I don't want any students going around nosing in your quest."

"It was an accident. It's not like I planned in meeting a Chimera in the library." _Crap_.

"Ah, so that's what happened." He winked at me, which I found a bit creepy, but I guess old people do that.

"Erm, yeah. I'm sorry for the damage, although, wouldn't a magic castle have, like some anti-monster shield around it or something?" I asked.

"Your trainer, Chiron, told me about your, ah, _special_ powers." He said. My eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?" I was confused.

"He told me that you perform necromancy. In the Wizarding and Muggle worlds, it is marked as the dark arts. Hogwarts _does_ have magical protection around the borders, much like your camp, but ours keeps out dark magic, as well as monsters. When Chiron told me of your abilities, I had to take off the shield in order for you to get in without complications. And as it turned out, I forgot to put it back on. I thought it might have been a monster accident back at the library, and I put the protective screen back up immediately afterwards." That would explain how the monster got inside.

"So, there won't be any more monster attacks, right?" I wanted to make sure.

"That is correct." Dumbledore replied.

"What are you going to tell the other students?" The old man smirked at me.

"That does not matter for the moment. Alas, they do not need to know _everything_, do they? Now, don't mind Madam Pomfrey, I will tell her that you can leave whenever you wish to." The headmaster turned and left the room.

It took me a while to recover. I only went back to the dorm in the late afternoon, because walking made it painful and I knew that if I tried to shadow travel before I gained more strength I would end up killing myself. All the way there, people kept giving me strange glances when they were between lessons. Then again, you would look at a person if they were clutching their stomach, whilst leaning on a wall and walking across a goddamn _castle_. I felt kind of awkward, because I could see pity and sympathy in their eyes. I hated it when people felt sorry for me, it just made me feel uncomfortable and weak in other people's eyes.

By the time I got to the top of the tower and into my dorm, it was dinner time. I couldn't be bothered to go to the hall, and I was desperate for some nectar. I bent over and fished out my back pack from under my bed. I stuck my hand in it and pulled out a canteen and ambrosia squares form a plastic bag. After a few minutes I was completely fine. The godly food got rid of the venom and I could take off my bandages.  
Now _that_ was some nasty business. The soft bandages stuck to my torso, so I had to practically peel them off of me. There wasn't any major scars after the bite, but you could see clearly where the snake head bit me. Once I coped with the bandages, I ended up holding yellowy-green material, which stung when you touched it. When I finally did get rid of it - don't ask how, it involved a lot of random things that I'd like to forget about - I couldn't find a t-shirt. As expected, I tossed my back pack somewhere after I put back the food of the gods, and now I couldn't find it. I spent half an hour looking for it, but no luck. To make the matters worse, my dorm mates came into the room at some point and started asking me questions.

_Where were you all weekend?_

_Why do you have weird scars on your body?_

_Why don't you have your t-shirt on you?_ etc . . .

"Look guys, I don't have to explain myself to you. Let's just say that I lost my bag and now I can't find it." I spread out my arms, to hint that I could use some help.

"Fine," Harry grumbled, "c'mon guys." It didn't take as long to find it. The back pack landed on top of a small ledge above the window, a bit strange yes, but at least I could put on a shirt right?

All the guys left for the common room while I took a hot shower. Afterwards I remembered about the book on my bed. I sat cross legged on the bunk and picked it up. The old, rough cover probably used to be a nicer colour, but now it was a decaying green with parts of it burned off. I opened the thick book and started reading it. The jagged paper was scratchy to touch and the writing must have been chanted, because my eyes started to burn after a dozen pages. But got what I wanted. _Avada Kedavra - _was the killing curse. I also learnt the other two - Imperius and Cruciatus. Cruciatus curse being a torture curse and the Imperius giving you the ability to control someone. I imagined using Imperio on an Ares kid. That thought made me laugh. Another thing that I found out, is that you'd have to be a very skilled and powerful wizard to be able to use them.

**Okay guys, that's it for now. Can I just thank all of you who are so patient. Also, THANKYOU FOR THE REVIEWS! You guys make me feel so loved :3 **

**BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING! Please, watch this:**

watch?v=wYzUL11RbdE - all the pictures belong to viria, at .com and she's amazing!

**(on youtube) it's absolutely amazing, and I ADORE it.**

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Thanks :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own ANYTHING! – There's my disclaimer for the day ;)**

**CHAPT**E**R 8**

_**Hermione POV**_

"What the bloody hell!" yelled Ron. Me, Harry and Ron were about to enter the Great hall for breakfast, when I saw a black notice board standing to the side of the mahogany door.

_*****__Professor Dolores Umbridge, a Ministry of Magic official,  
Will be permanently replaced in  
Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons,  
on __October 16th,__ with a newly hired teacher__.__*****_

"You cannot question me, Minerva." a rather high pitched voice came from the bottom of the stairs, just behind the corner.

"Yes, I can. We do not need a new teacher Dolores - our staff quantity is full." A group of students, including us, were eyeing the argument between professor McGonagall and Umbridge. "And we most certainly don't need a head of Defence Against the Dark Arts. You can't go around changing the school, without the permission of the Headmaster."

"You are forgetting your place Minerva. I am an official of the Ministry of Magic, and I will do what I can to make this school perfected. If I think we need a head of a subject, we _will_ have a head of a subject." Umbridge raised her voice. "Don't forget that I am higher up in the industry, than you. Remember where your loyalties lie, because I will not hesitate to take precautions if I believe that there is an uprising amongst the teachers, or the pupils." She scrolled her eyes across the gathered students as she said that last bit.

"The nerve of that woman, does she think she's more important to other teachers?"I shouted. We were heading for our lessons. Obviously, the whole _Hogwarts High Inquisitor _thing was too overwhelming for that toad. It was clear that she felt more superior to the other staff of Hogwarts.

"And to hire another teacher, is she even allowed to do that?" Ron asked.

"Hermione, calm down." Harry soothed, "The next teacher might be properly qualified, and I don't think that anyone really liked her lessons anyway."

"That's not the point, Harry. October 16th is tomorrow. Why didn't she bother to tell us about it before?" I said.

Harry sighed. "I don't know. Ron we're going to be late for Divination. We'll talk about it later Hermione." The boys left for their lesson as I rushed to class.

I was seething through the first two periods, but I understood that Harry was right. Umbridge had really bad teaching methods, and I hated her after what she did to him in detention.  
I was sitting in Arithmancy, next to Ainsley Darby, listening to the teacher go on and on about things I already knew about. That was the problem with studying in the summer holidays; you end up being way ahead of the upcoming lessons. A few tables in front of me sat Nico with Luna. Nico sat there, smiling at Luna, while she talked to him, probably about some nonsense as usual. I never paid any attention to Luna, and I tried to ignore Nico, but I couldn't, there was a really strange aura around him - a dangerous one. I looked up at them once again, and caught him . . . _blushing? _I haven't seen him do that before.  
The door opened suddenly. Luna stopped talking and everyone present looked towards the exit.

"Excuse me professor," in the doorway stood a chubby woman in a deep green robe, professor Sprout. "I need to borrow Neville Longbottom." Neville stood up and head down walked out of the room.

As the Herbology teacher closed the door, Nico said something to Luna and they both snickered. And then it hit me. It was _Nico_ who destroyed most of the library. He didn't come back into the Gryffindor tower with me after we met in the astronomy tower; he must have gone to look for the book. But why would he demolish a part of the school? He could have gotten himself expelled!

"Hermione," asked professor Vector, with a frown. "Did you hear what I just said?"

"Erm, I-I . . ." I stuttered.

"Of course not," Said the teacher, "because you were too busy looking at Mr di Angelo." The class sniggered. Thankfully, Neville came into the room with a wild grin plastered on his face and the teacher continued the lesson, but before Neville reached his seat, he looked at me and whispered:

"Professor Sprout said that I have high chances on getting good scores in my Herbology!" he trotted down to his seat excitedly, but it was obvious that it wasn't all that professor Sprout told him.

**OOOOO**

I left the room in a hurry after lesson, wanting to finish my potions assignment before the Quidditch game, which was this afternoon. It was a free period, so I went out into the court yard. The clouds gathered thickly on the sky, so there wasn't much of afternoon day light shining down on the faces of my fellow classmates. I sat in the corner of the yard, on an old wooden bench, and opened the thick green potion book. The assignment was to read 3 chapters about the strengthening solution.

I was halfway through the third chapter when I heard a soft 'Ahem' - the kind when someone tries to get your attention. I looked up, half expecting to see Umbridge, but it was Nico. He was clutching an old book, that was so damaged, Madam Pince would die at the sight of it.

"Hi Hermione." He said, "Do you mind?" He pointed to the bench.

"Not at all." I said moving my bag. He sat down, but instead of opening his book, he put it on my lap.

"Why couldn't you just tell me?" Nico asked. I looked at the book. It read _The Unforgivable Curses_.

"I didn't want to get into trouble. Where did you get this?" I asked. I put away my potions book into my school bag.

"The library, like you told me." I sat there, with my mouth hanging open. "What?"

"_That_ was in the library?" I asked. He pulled the book out of my hands.

"Yeah, that's where you told me to look, right?" he asked, innocently browsing through the pages.

"Well, yes, but I wasn't convinced that something like that would be in a school library." I said. That reminded me.

"What the bloody hell did you do the library!" I was suddenly outraged. Nico winced and placed his cold, pale hand over my mouth to shut me up.

"I didn't do anything." He said.

"Of course you did something! It's all ruined, you damaged school property."

"Jeez, woman. Calm down, I didn't do anything, okay? It was an accident, and you don't need to know anything else." He closed the book and stood up.

"What kind of acc-" I started, but was cut off by Parvati Patil, who was walking by.

"Hermione, come on! The game is about to start." She ran off with Lavender Brown at her heels.

"What game?" Asked Nico.

"Quidditch," He looked at me funny but I didn't feel like talking to him. I grabbed my bag and walked off, with the wind blowing in my face.

_**Harry POV**_

I pulled my scarlet team shirt over my head and grabbed my broom. Firebolt, a gift from my godfather Sirius, felt perfect in my grip. I stepped out of the Gryffindor changing rooms and headed for the field, with the cold air brushing against my face. If you've never seen a Quidditch pitch, you haven't been amazed. The stands surrounded the grassy field like mountains, with the goals hovering high above the ground on metal poles. The towers were decorated in colourful shrouds of different houses and Hogwarts mottos. _**(AN - No idea where that came from)**_

"Come on Harry," Said George Weasley, "let's show those Hufflepuffs what they're up against."

Fred patted my shoulder and they both rose into the air. I slowly ascended after them into the middle of the pitch. I heard roars rise from the audience, and I noticed Hermione off to my left, holding up a '**GO GRYFFINDOR**' banner with Ginny. I didn't pay any attention to the game until I heard the metallic sound of a whistle, blown by Madam Hooch. The Hufflepuff chasers whizzed past me, as they tried to get hold of the Quaffle. The Hufflepuffs got better and better, advancing in on our team mates. Luckily, Katie Bell was much faster and more experienced. Within the first 3 minutes of the game, we scored 40 points, thanks to her. I was looking out for the Golden snitch, desperately wanting the game to end. As much as I loved it, the wind got much stronger and rain started slashing me hard in the face.

The cheers of Gryffindor were extremely loud, compared to the booing coming from Slytherin. The chanting coming from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff was drowned out by the rivalry between the snakes and the lions.  
After a while, of floating around the field uselessly, I saw a round golden object, hovering in the distance. Immediately, I dove to get it. With the wind howling in my ears, I increased on speed, barely managing to see through my wet goggles.  
I was about 3 metres away from the snitch. I almost had my arm ripped out of its socket. The Bludger grazed my fingertips, if I hadn't hauled upwards, I was pretty sure my right arm would end up on the other and of the field.

"Sorry, Harry" Fred flew in front of me, but I didn't have time to pay attention to what he was saying. I looked back at where the snitch should have been, but it was gone. I looked around in search of it.

"Hufflepuff wins!" Roared the commentator, "Summerby caught the snitch, winning with Gryffindor 170-90!"

Those words hummed pointlessly around in my head. We _lost_? How could we lose? I haven't lost a single game. Well except that one game in third year, when I fell off my broom due to a Dementor. The cheering switched sides - your could hear cheering from Slytherin, as well as Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. I didn't hear anything coming from my house friends. They were just as stunned as I was. I looked all around the audience.

I saw Malfoy trying to push Pansy off of him. He seemed to be shouting at her, then he looked in my direction. At first I thought he was looking at me, but then I turned around and saw what trapped his gaze. My heart got heavier. Hermione and Ron were arguing. She wasn't holding her banner anymore, because she kept waving around her arms. I always felt guilty whenever they argued, because they were both my friends and they both relied on me - I couldn't choose sides. Not wasting time, I flew over to them.

"-repeating yourself!" screamed Hermione. The rest of the Gryffindors cleared out, so she didn't hold back.

"I'm not repeating myself!" shouted Ron. I hovered a few feet away from them, and said:

"Hey, why are you arguing?"

"Oh really? Well, that's odd, because I remember you saying the exact same thing to me, at the Yule ball, when I came with Victor Krum." She crossed her arms and glared at him, completely ignoring me.

"That has nothing to do with what's happening now!" Ron yelled.

"What _is_ happening now?" I asked. The duo hadn't noticed me land in front of them.

"Harry, could you please tell Ronald that his behavior is childish and idiotic."

"No, it isn't!" Ron defended, "Just because you're secretly going out with that death eater-" Why did I have a feeling he was talking about Nico?

"I'm not going out with anyone! And it wouldn't be your business if I was anyway!" She cried out.

"It is my business when you're getting friendly with the enemy." Ron muttered. They both looked at me expectantly. I wasn't sure what to do. I trusted Hermione, and knew she wouldn't do something stupid like Ron was suggesting, but I also didn't 100% know what happened at the night I lend her the invisibility cloak.

"Guys, seriously. Ron, come on, we both know that Hermione isn't dating a death eater." I looked at him.

"She's fraternising with the enemy. Harry, I saw them. They were sitting on a bench, holding hands-"

"We were _not_ holding hands!" She screamed, "For the last time, and get it through to your empty head, we were doing homework together!"

"You sat pretty close to each other." Ron said. Hermione's arms flew up in the air in defeat.

"I don't care what you believe. Both of you," she looked at me, "But I am not dating Nico di Angelo." She stomped off with a huff. I wanted to say that things got better from there, but it only got more confusing. They wouldn't talk to each other at all, even through me. It was really frustrating, because they both wanted to spend time with me, but wouldn't go near one another.

The next day I was walking with Hermione (Ron was at lunch and we weren't hungry.) towards the black lake, talking about our OWLS , when we saw someone I didn't think I would see at this school again. From the edge of the forbidden forest emerged . . .

**OOOOOOOO**

**Okay, so what do you guys think of it? Please, please, please review! I read **_**every**_** review I get - even the negative ones! tell me what you think and don't hold back, I really appreciate criticizm! I love you guys for bothering to do it! :D :D **

_*** **__**The idea of Umbridge getting too big for her boots and hiring a new teacher was all by **_vickydirection_**! thank you for that AMAZING IDEA!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Everything belongs to either Rick Riordan or J.K Rowling. Well, maybe not the plot :)**_

_**CHAPTER 9**_

_**Nico POV**_

Have you ever seen a fight between a hellhound and a fully grown werewolf? If not, then count yourself lucky - that is some nasty stuff. After my little, err, spat, with Hermione I decided to go to the forest. It was quiet, and not as windy, thanks to the trees. I don't know why, but places like the forbidden forest always made me calm and happy. Well, happy-er I wasn't ever actually a very happy person. I walked around the woods for a while, until the trees became rarer and the trunks got much, much thicker. The time flew by very quickly, so not too soon after I entered the forest, it was night time. With the beautiful full moon, shining through the gaps in the leaves, I leaned on one of the trees, my eyes were tired from reading.

Now, you may not believe it, but I do sometimes get lonely. No, seriously. Sure, it was my choice to go out here, by myself, and I like being alone. However, there is a difference between being lonely, and being alone. When you are on your own, you usually take your time to think through tough decisions; write in your diary or plan how you will tell your parents that you're pregnant and have no clue who the father is. But when you are lonely, you feel like there is no one you can rely on, and no one who could listen to what you've got to say. Abandoned - that's the word. Not wanting to bother Percy every time I wanted someone to talk to, I decided to call on Mrs O'Leary. And yes, I know she's Percy's pet hellhound, but after the Titan war, Percy said that if I ever needed to borrow her, I could. Now that I think about it, she is always a good ally to have on your side.

I never understood that power, but somehow, if I just thought of her being here, she would get my 'mental message'. Of course, she wouldn't always come, usually she was busy, but I knew she liked me, and she knew I liked her. it seemed weird that I preferred spending time with a beast of Hades, rather than other human beings, but I learned the hard way, that you couldn't always trust people, whereas animals were (most of the time) faithful.

I waited, slightly shivering from the October chill, and recalling my conversation with Luna in Arithmancy . . .

**OOOOOOOOOOOO**

_I was scribbling down an equation, while Luna talked about wizard trinkets she found useful. Then she switched to the topic of her dad and The Quibbler . Unlike the stereotypical males around the world, I was actually able to focus on what she was saying, as well as working out the problem._

_"... but no one really wants to believe in Nargles and other creatures they can't see."She continued in a sad, quiet tone, "People think that if something isn't visible, it doesn't exist. But Me and my father know that's not true."_

_"I know what you mean." I looked up at her empathically. I remembered one time, just after my arrival at Camp Half Blood, before I knew about my father, I thought I saw a ghost, of a teenage boy, standing outside the camp boarders. No one believed me when I tried to tell them. A couple of months later, it turned out that I could see him because of my parentage._

_"So who's Annabeth?" She asked innocently. That caught me off guard._

_"What?" I smiled awkwardly. I felt my face redden a little. I remembered the time when I had a slight crush on her - but that was two years ago. She was practically my family now, but I still felt odd talking about her. Or to her for that matter. In fact, I didn't like talking much to people after all._

_"I visited you once when you were in the infirmary." She lowered her voice a little, like she was telling me a secret, "You said something about Annabeth holding the weight of the sky." Oh, that. It was a nightmare that repeated itself . . . Sometimes I dreamt about the visions I already had before._

_"Annabeth is, my . . ." My Friend I wanted to say, but I wasn't certain that was true. I didn't have friends. People either ignored me or hated my guts, the ones that did talk to me, only did it because they felt like they needed to. And it's not like there was many people who actually talked to me any way. Thalia bothered with me because she was my family. Annabeth kept up conversations with me from time to time because of Percy. And Percy . . . he said he was my friend. But deep down I knew that he felt guilty for what happened to my sister - he only tried to make up for it by being there, he knew he couldn't let Bianca down again._

_Then there was Luna. An actual person who willingly wanted to be my friend, who didn't even know the truth about me or my past. It wasn't fair on her that we became friends, if I was just lying to her about everything all the time._

_"Your what?"_

_"She's someone I know." I replied quietly._

**OOOOOOOOOOOOO**

I sighed into the night, trails of steam escaping my lips with every breath. Suddenly, a tall lean figure materialized a couple of meters away from where I was standing. The thing growled quietly, warning me to start running, as it approached. It had long hind legs and dull, grey skin. It's snout was short with a gleaming set of razor sharp teeth emerging from it's lips. I didn't have much time to think about the details in it's looks because the thing attacked me. I fumbled for my sword, but my hands felt numb. If it weren't for the fact that Mrs O'Leary shadow traveled right into the beast, I would have been 'Monster Chow'. She had instantly pinned it down to the cold ground, but not for long. The monster snapped at her paws, clawing at her nose. She whimpered as her grip slackened, enough for the thing to break out of her grasp and move boldly in my direction. Providentially, I had the black stygian sword in my hand. The beast slashed at my face, ignoring the blade making cuts on it's arms - Gods, that thing was determined to kill me. And I couldn't really hurt it, because the wounds healed up faster than I could manage to make more damage to it.

When I stabbed it in the hand, Mrs O'Leary sank her teeth into the creature's right shoulder and yanked it high into the air. It fell down with a satisfying crunch. The beast's breathing was rapid and shallow. Percy's pet knew better than to pin it down again, instead she bit into it's leg and tossed it into the nearest tree trunk. The monster slid down it and the tree bark started to crumble around it. Mrs O'Leary crouched down, ready to pounce the weakened beast, when a big black dog ploughed into her. The dog was much smaller than Mrs O'Leary, but it was just as strong. I couldn't run to her aid, because the monster that was lying and hardly breathing a moment ago, was back up and charging at me.

I slashed and stabbed at it, but the creature was quick - and obviously knew to stay away from my reach. I was a bit confused during the fight. That thing had massive, wickedly sharp teeth, but it never tried to bite me. We didn't fight for long, nevertheless my arms were getting tired.

Hack, slash. The beast dodged my every move - that was infuriating.

The monster found a pattern in my moves, and it took the chance as soon as it appeared. It scratched me in the face and wrenched my sword from my bleeding hand.

It was a kick in the teeth. I never got disarmed so easily before, especially by a monster. I practiced a lot, and no one has bested me in a fight until then. No one except for Percy.

The monster threw itself at my neck with it's claws. I thought it would tear open my throat, but as an alternative, it decided to strangle me, by crushing my windpipe. I tried to pull it's gnarled hands away from my neck, but it's grip was too strong. I turned over my shoulder to see what was happening to Mrs O'Leary.

***Pause*** I know that was a bit stupid, since I should have been concentrating on getting that thing away from me, but by then, that beast had my arms trapped under it's legs. Lovely. ***Continue***

- I could see bright, colourful spots dancing in front of my eyes as my vision went fuzzy, but I could make out the rough details. Mrs O'Leary was laying under a tree, far away from me, snoring peacefully. The black dog jumped off her back and landed with a thump, whilst I was choking and gasping for the air that was getting away from me. I tried to blink the tears out of my eye, but it only stung as the salty tears traced my bleeding face. When I looked at the dog again, it was running towards us, gaining speed with each step.

About seven meters away from me dying, the black shaggy dog started to develop human features. First it stood up, and it's fur was rapidly transforming into old clothing. Then it's arms and legs extended. Before I knew it, a man, whose face looked fairly familiar, was injecting a needle into the beast taking my life. The creature instantly relaxed it's grip. I took a hoarse, choking breath. Fresh air filled my lungs, and I slowly started to regain my consciousness, my vision returning to my eyes . The monster looked at me in remorse and jumped off, whimpering under it's breath.

I leaned on me elbow and touched my neck. I took a fleeting look at my blood-spattered fingertips, before staring at the monster in pure hatred. I was exhausted, and really pissed off. The beast took slow steps back, looking me in the eyes with guilt. I was puzzled.

"Remus, what did you do?" The man dropped the needle that contained blue liquid, and crouched down next to me. He ripped the hem of his yellow, blood stained shirt and dabbed at my neck. I didn't stop him, I was too confused to think about what was happening around me. Why didn't the thing kill me? Who was this man? Who in the name of Hades was Remus? What was that liquid? My head was pounding. I wanted to pass out on the spot, but I've had enough of that. I wasn't that weak just yet.

"We need to get him into the school. He's very badly hurt." He stood up and tried to pick me up, but this time I resisted his help. I was more prepared since the Chimera attack, and I had ambrosia in my pocket. The guy looked at me funny as I consumed the godly food. At that point, I seriously didn't give a damn whether he got suspicious or found out. I was in agony.

Within moments, the wounds were closing up, the scratches melting into my skin and my pain easing serenely.

"How did you do that?" The bloke asked in incredulity. I looked up at him and noticed the details in his appearance. He had shoulder length black hair, with an untrimmed beard. You could tell by his face that the man has been through a lot of pain and grief.

"It doesn't matter." I said. I didn't pay any attention to the monster until it stifled a yelp at the sound of my hoarse voice. I looked to my right and saw my sword. I bent down to pick it up and slotted it back into its sheath. The man pointed a finger at my weapon and rose his eyebrow, but said nothing.

I looked at the creature in hatred, it was sulking under a tree, and I noticed something I didn't see before. The way it limped was almost human. It had hair, instead of fur, and it's deep green eyes were watered, like it wanted to cry, but couldn't get itself to do so. I took a small step forward and nudged something with the tip of my shoe. WOLFSBANE. A label on the small bottle, with a needle sticking out. During my time in the library, I came across a few potions and read about Wolfbane. It was extremely hard to brew, and was made for lycanthropes to keep their consciousness while in werewolf form. Werewolf. Why hadn't I realized that earlier? That thing was a Lycan. It's who the stranger must have addressed as Remus.

"Who are you?" I asked the man, still kneeling on the ground. He looked up at me skeptically.

"Sirius Black." He said gently. Something bothered me about his tone as he introduced himself. The way he spoke, like I might call the police.  
I started slowly towards Mrs O'Leary. She was fast asleep, but how that happened, I had absolutely no idea. I sat beside her, underneath a willow tree, trying to wake her up. No use, it didn't matter how hard I shook her side - it was about as good as trying to move a wall. I was so distracted with my thoughts - Who was that man? Why wasn't the hellhound awake? How am I going to get back into the castle? I obviously couldn't leave that man there. He looked terrible. - that I didn't hear Sirius creep up on me.

"You know, I think it's rather rude that you haven't introduced yourself yet." He smirked at me. Sirius whipped out his brown wand and muttered a spell. Within seconds, Mrs O'Leary was shaking her head awake.

"Nico di Angelo." I had to refrain myself from adding the extra son of Hades, Ambassador of Pluto, Ghost King stuff. He glanced at me uneasily, just as Percy's pet started growling at the man.

"Down girl," I told her, "He's a friend." That sentence immediately made him smile cheerfully. Sirius grabbed my shoulder and hauled me up.

"Nico, you need to get back to school. It's not safe here, I thought that Dumbledore would have told you that the Forbidden forest was out of bounds."

"He did. I just don't listen." I said, shrugging my shoulders. "And I knew it wasn't safe. But I had no clue there were actual werewolves in here though." My eyes averted to Remus.

"What did you do to lure him here?" Sirius asked.

"What do you mean?"

"He wasn't inside the ground of Hogwarts, and he came right after you. What did you do to call him to you?" Call the werewolf to me? I didn't call anyone except Mrs O'Leary- oh. Maybe Remus was in the area, and since they're both part canine, well . . . maybe the signal I give the hellhound is like a dog whistle.

"I didn't do anything." I lied.

I spent most of the night talking to Sirius, about the most random of topics. Once or twice I saw a Thestral soaring above the treetops, and I caught Sirius looking. I wondered if he could see them, but if so, who did he witness dying? He seemed alright. He unintentionally gave away a few hints, like that he escaped from a prison; I remembered his face from an old wizard magazine, or that he was Harry's godfather. Somehow, that didn't surprise me.

It was dawn break when I got up and saw the Lycanthrope wobbling towards us. Mrs O'Leary started barking and snarling until I called her off. As the sun rose and flickered between the tree trunks, Remus curled into a ball and started turning. His bones stretched out painfully and his deranged snout was shrinking rapidly, until it was a normal human nose, but he had fresh bloody scars all over his face. In fact, he had plenty of teeth and sword marks all over his body. His fur melted into ragged jeans and a dirty blue shirt. He had a ripped cream jacket over his shoulders and between his gasps and screams of pain, I could see that his teeth were normal, not razor sharp as before.  
Sirius rushed over to him and began healing him with a spell.

"Nico, help me pick him up. We need to get him into the school."

"Why?" Nico asked. Only when Sirius looked at him in disgust he understood how horrid that sounded. "I mean, he's a werewolf, are you sure that it's going to be safe in school?"

"He only changes once a month. He's a good man" Sirius snarled.

"No, from what I know, wizards are pretty racist towards Lycans."

"He'll be fine. Now, are you going to help me, or not?" Nico picked gently picked up the right arm of the werewolf and, along with Sirius, he pulled him to his feet. Remus groaned softly, his head hung down.

It took us almost two hours to drag Remus' unconscious butt to the edge of the forbidden forest. On the way, I asked Sirius what they were doing here in the first place.

"Well, Remus was a teacher at Hogwarts two years ago, and this year he's been hired once again. I was, um, in the area, making sure that he got to the Shrieking Shack on time. Clearly, he didn't."

"The Shrieking Shack?"

"Oh, it's this building on the edge of Hogsmeade. Moony here used to go there every full moon when he was at Hogwarts." I had no idea where Hogsmeade was, or why Remus was referred to as 'Moony', but he decided to let it go.

As we passed the last few trees, Hagrid's hut came into view. The windows were dim and the door was shut tight. In fact, the giant man himself was nowhere to be seen, not since the first night here at Hogwarts. It's like he vanished.

I stumbled as Remus propped himself up, gaining consciousness, but Sirius somehow managed to keep me in place. After regaining balance, Remus stood weakly by himself, as both, Sirius and I, were stretching our aching arms.  
I turned to look where the man stood a few seconds ago - I just managed a glimpse of a shaggy black tail disappearing behind the tree once again.

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione's clear voice could be heard, even from that far away. She and Harry were both standing near the top of the slope.

**Okay, that was, by far, the most boring chapter to write so far! I'm so, so, so sorry I didn't update for the past few weeks, I was busy. I kinda worked on it gradually over the summer holidays but I just couldn't get myself to do it properly, so excuse any pathetic mistakes or my shitty writing, I just wanted to get this chapter over and done with. :/**  
**PLEASE REVIEW! even if it's just to say that it's the worst thing you've ever read, as much as I love your positive comments - (::) :3 - constructive criticism is actually better.**

**IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR THE PLOT, PLEASE PM ME! I love to hear your ideas :)**


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